Sewing-machine



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M. GARDNER.

v SEWING MACHINE. No; 402,432. Patented Apr. 30, 1889.

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SEWING MACHINE Ila-402,432. Patented-Apr. 30, 1889.,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARSHALL GARDNER, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS H. BALL AND JAMES STONE, OF SAME PLACE, AND SIMON FLORSHEIM, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS.

SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,432, dated. April 30, 1889. Application filed July 8,1887. Serial No. 243,734. (No model.) I

This invention relatesto an improvement in double-thread sewing-machin es of that class in which the stitch is formed by reciprocating.

needles acting in conjunction with revolving 15 hooked shuttles.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claim.

The device herein shown as embodying my 20 invention embraces as its mainfeature of novelty a revolving hooked shuttle, which is provided with peripheral teeth or recesses and is supported or sustained by means of a circular guide or race engaging the periphery 2 5 of the shuttle, together with a revolving drivewheel provided with teeth or projections engaging peripheral projections or recesses upon or in the shuttle in such manner as to cause the rotation of the latter in the circular race for the purpose of carrying the needle-thread loop engaged with thehook around the body of the shuttle and the thread -bobbin contained therein. I

The invention is herein shown as applied 3 to a gang-machine, or one containing a plurality of needles and shuttles.

The main features of novelty of the invention may, however, be equally well applied to machines containing only a single needle 0 and a single shuttle.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the work-table and arm of a sewing-machine. Fig. 2 is an end elevation 5 of the same. Fig.3 is a transverse vertical section of the same, taken upon line a: a: of Fig. .1. Fig. 4 is a view showing the workplate and parts connected therewith as viewed from beneath the machine. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail plan section of the several shut- 5o tles and the guides or races therefor. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section taken upon the oblique line a: 00 of Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken through the shuttle-race upon line m m of Fig. 6, showing the shuttle 5 5 in side view. Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are detail views of the shuttle and throatrplate of the machine, showing different positions of the shuttle. Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken through the shuttle-race upon line as :10 of Fig. 1, showing the side of the shuttle opposite to that seen in Fig.7.

As illustrated in the said drawings, Ais the work-plate of the machine; B, the goose-neck or overhanging frame-arm; C, the needle-bar sliding vertically in the said frame-arm, and D D the needles.

E indicates the horizontal drive-shaft of the machine, which is mounted in the frame-arm B, and is provided with a crank-disk, E, from which the needle-bar is actuated by means of a pitman, E The shaft E is provided with the usual balance wheel, E and belt-pulley E.

F F indicate two metal parts or castings located beneath the throat-plate A of the machine and provided with a series of circular grooves, f f f, forming the shuttle guides or races.

G G are circular shuttles, which'are fitted at their edges in the grooves f f f in such manner as to be capable of freelyrotating in the latter. The said shuttlescontain threadbobbins J J J. 1 v 'The part or casting F is permanently at fixed to the work-plate of the machine, while the plate F, which embraces one-half of the diameter of the circular shuttle-race, is pivoted to the stationary part F F, so that the said movable part F may be swung or moved 9o outwardly to allow of the insertion and removal of the shuttles. As herein shown, the part F is connected by means of a pivot-pin,

f to the casting F at a point below the shut tle-guides, and is held or locked in place by 5 means of a spring-catch, F engaging a projecting part, f of the said casting F, in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Each of the shuttles G is made in the form of a circular ring provided at one point with an inclined notch, 9, extending inwardly from its outer edge and thereby forming a hook, g having a pointed end adapted to engage the loop of the needle-thread as the said hook passes the needle, the said point of the hook being located in the same plane with one of the fiat sides of the shuttle, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, so as to properly engage the threadloop upon the needle, which latter passes downwardly at one side of the shuttle, in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 1, 5, and 11. The shuttle is provided about its periphery with a series of recesses or notches, g g 9 for engagement with peripheral cogs or teeth upon a revolving drive-wheel, H, located beneath the work-plate and adjacent to the several shuttles, the casting F being cut away or recessed at one side to form an opening to allow the engagement of the said drive-wheel 1-1 with the shuttles, in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 11. The said drivewheelis shown in the drawings as mounted upon a revolving shaft, H, having bearings h h in the casting F at either side of the said drive-wheel H and a third bearing, 7Z2, attached to the machine -frame adjacent to the lower end of the frame-arn1 B, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

For the general purposes of the invention any suitable actuating devices may be employed for giving rotary motion to the shaft H, so as to turn the drive-wheel and actuate the shuttles. Preferably, however, the shuttles, instead of being driven with a uniform motion, are retarded at the time the loop of the needle-thread is first engaged with the hook of the shuttle, in order that the needle may have time to rise above and become free from the cloth before the needle-thread is drawn downwardly by the action of said hook, the rotation of the shuttle in the manner described being desirable for the reason that the thread may be more easily drawn through the needle-hole in the cloth after the needle has been extracted therefrom.

The particular device herein shown as employed to drive the shaft H is one heretofore commonly employed, and is constructed as follows: The drive-shaft E of the machine is provided near its rear end with a crank, E which is engaged with the upper end of a lever, I, which lever is pivotally connected near its middle with a horizontally-arranged connecting-bar, I, pivoted at its opposite end at i to the machine-frame. The shaft H is provided with a crank-arm, H having a crankpin, 7L3, which is connected with the lower end of the bar I by means of a connecting-rod, I In the operation of this device the shaft H is driven in a direction opposite to the direction of motion of the shaft E, said crank-pin h being pushed around by the action of the short connecting-rod I as the lower end of the bar I is rotated, in a manner heretofore common and well understood.

It will of course be understood that any one of a number of well-known devices for giving variable motion to the shaft H may be employed in place of the particular one shown.

The bobbin or thread-holderJ herein shown is made in circular form and located within the central open space of the ring-shaped shuttle, Said bobbin consists of two convex plates,j j, united by a tubular connectingpiece, j forming the barrel upon which the thread is wound. The said bobbin may be held in place within the shuttle in any manner adapted for allowing the free passage of the bobbin-thread outwardly through the marginal slot of the bobbin in the revolution of the shuttle. In the particular construction shown the shuttle is provided with an annular ledge or shoulder, 9 against which the inwardly-turned free edge of the plate j of the bobbin rests, said plate j being held in contact with the ledge by means of a projection, 9 at one side of the shuttle and a springcatch, 9 at the other side thereof. Said springcatch allows the bobbin to be readily removed from and inserted in the shuttle. The plate j of the bobbin is made of less diameter than the plate j, thereby affording a free space for the egress of the thread, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

The inclined notch g of the shuttle, within which the loop of the needle-thread is caught, and by which said loop is carried downwardly and around the bobbin, is extended to a point inside of the inner faces of theribs f f between the grooves f f of the castings F F, so that as the shuttle'is turned the thread-loop will pass clear of the said ribs, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 7, and 11. As the shuttle is being turned or revolved to carry the needle-thread loop around the shuttle the said loop will obviously be confined in the notch g by the edges of the adjacent ribs f f To provide means for the escape of the needle-loop from the said notch before the carrier has made a complete revolution, so that the needle-thread loop may be drawn up to complete the stitch before the needle again descends into position for the engagement of the shuttle-hook with the upper thread, the edge of the shuttle is cut away through a space of nearly one-quarter of the circumference of the shuttle, so as to form a curved surface, g, which is free from contact with the shuttle bearing or race. The edge of the shuttle adjacent to the part or surface g is also desirably made narrower than the body of the shuttle, as shown in Fig. 6, to provide additional space for the free passage of the loop through the notch g as the said loop is drawn upwardly by the needle. The sides of the guide-gr0oves f may also be cut away, as indicated at f, Figs. 6 and 7; but this is obviously not necessary, inasmuch as the narrowing of the edge of the shuttle will usually afford ample space for the upward passage of the loop. The notches g are made of such depth as to extend into the cut-away part 9 of the shuttle, so that the spur-wheel II will properly engage the shuttle at this point. Inasmuch as the formation of the laterally-curved hook g necessitates the removal of the metal along the center of the edge of the shuttle, as shown in Fig. 5, one of the reoesses, 9 is placed near the point of the hook near the side faoe'of the shuttle, in the manner clearly shown in said Fig. 5, the tooth of the drive-wheel H engaging the said recess of course being arranged to correspond in position and size with the said recess. The recess g which is formed in the depressed surface g adjacent to the hook, is also preferably made narrow, as shown in Fig. 5, to enable a rounded and tapered shape to be'given to the shuttle at this point.

In Fig. 8 the shuttle is shown in position when the hook is engaged with the needlethread and the needle rising. Fig. 9 shows the loop as engaged with the notch g and as being carried around the bobbin. Fig. 10 shows the position of the shuttle at the time of the escape of the loop from the hook, the loop being shown in the act of being drawn up to complete the stitch.

In a ganggmachine of the character shown, in which the shuttles are placed close together, the drive-wheels H for the several shuttles will be united in a single cylinder provided with parallel rows of cogs or teeth to engage the several shuttles.

Shuttles constructed and actuated in the manner set forth may be advantageously employed in single-needle machines; but such shuttles are especially adapted for use in gang-machines, for the reason that each shuttle and its supporting and actuating devices occupy a narrow space only, so that a number of shuttles may be placed side by side in position to act in connection with a series of needles placed close together without interfering one with the other. A gang-machine embracing a series of shuttles constructed in the mannerherein set forth is therefore herein claimed as part of my invention.

I claim as my invention- The combination, with a plurality of reciprocating needles, of a series of circular revolvin g hooked shuttles moving in planes parallel with planes passing through the vertical axes of the needles at right angles to the common axes of the shuttles, circular guides or bearings engaging the margins of said shuttles, said shuttles having recesses formed in their peripheries, and revolving drivewheels mounted upon one side of the shuttle and having teeth formed on their peripheries adapted to engage with the recesses in the shuttles whereby the same are driven, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. j

MARSHALL GARDNER.

Witnesses:

G. CLARENCE POOLE, O. N. WILLIs. 

